Budget or not to budget?

[AlleganyLawnCare]

I was wondering how many of the smaller lco's actually do a written budget for the upcoming year. I am pretty sure, that the mid to larger-sized companies automatically do one, but I wanted to know about the smaller (solos or 1 or 2 employees). How do you do yours? Do you break it down to the very last penny of projected income and expenses or do you wait the day before you have to buy or pay for something?

To be honest, the last years, I did it the old rough justice style - by the hip. This year since my business is taking off, and I am trying to develop a family entertainment center, I have to have a written budget. This is will help tell me how much I am able to put aside for the FEC. I am hoping to put approx. $10 to $25k (I have to save approx. $200 to $300k for it) this year for it. My budget takes into account expenses, equipment upgrades, payroll, advertsing, and so forth. I just hope it goes like I hope.

I am not sure how to help keep my goals on a time line. I think I should have a weekly budget review. What do you think?

Chris

[lifetree]

A weekly budget would be very difficult to maintain ... a monthly budget should serve you well. I am just a part-time business, however, I am a financial professional in my "day job" ... take it from me, weekly budgets would simply be overkill.

[RedMax Man]

Ya, Financial service professionals have told me that weekly budgets aren't important but monthly ones are and can help you improve the next month from the last one so that you can be more efficiant and productive.
I am just finishing all of this seasons numbers so that that can use them to help figure next seasons. I will be making monthly budgets that will include overhead, ins., equipment, etc. I don't think i will be able to figure them right to the penny but once i complete one month and see how i made out i can use it to improve the next month and so on. I am solo and have a helper when needed.

[KS_Grasscutter]

I am not gonna bother making a budget... I KNOW I wouldn't follow it AT ALL. And if I looked at it, I would just get frustrated, laugh at it, and throw it away.

[AndyTblc]

I would think that a budget for lawn care lawn maintinence and greenscaping and lawnscaping and what ever would be pretty hard because you never know what kind of season you are goning to have, you may have a dry as a bone season and customers that don't have and don't water. And you may have a season where you can't keep up and you have too much rain and you get behind. I just keep money in the bank and an atm card in my walet if I need to purchase something big right now, and I buy gas and oil with cash .

[RedMax Man]

I would think that a budget for lawn care lawn maintinence and greenscaping and lawnscaping and what ever would be pretty hard because you never know what kind of season you are goning to have, you may have a dry as a bone season and customers that don't have and don't water. And you may have a season where you can't keep up and you have too much rain and you get behind. I just keep money in the bank and an atm card in my walet if I need to purchase something big right now, and I buy gas and oil with cash .

Thats true but if you have at least a relative budget maybe not very precise then you can use for alot of related things like figuring overhead, hourly rates, and knowing if your really making a profit after all the business expences and extra stuff that the money must be used for.

[Shawns Lawns]

I agree it is hard to know what kind of season you will have so i think that would be hard to budget for. I don't nickel and dime everything. If i see a great deal that i know i should not get right now because the budget is tight, is just a ridiculous as paying more in the future when the budget is not so strained. You have to know at some point what you can and can not afford to buy. :waving:

[lifetree]

That's why you have a budget ... if your season looks like it's not shaping up the way you want it to, or the way you budgeted, then it forces you to figure out what you may need to do in order to achieve the budget ... in other words, go out and get some new business, or conversely, find a way to reduce expenses, or some combination of the those 2 things in order to achieve the "bottom line". That's what "for profit" companies do all the time.

[ED'S LAWNCARE]

Budget? I write a biz plan for the year with projected income, expenses, capitol expenses, profit. Is it not the same:confused:

[Josh.S]

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

[lifetree]

Ed -- It is essentially the same.

[LB1234]

I can't believe the general consensus is not to have a budget. If you don't have a budget how do you know what your costs are and how what to charge for the particular job?

I dunno this is were quickbooks is great...tracking everything and being able to track expenses versus a budget is pretty simple. I can go back days, weeks, months, years....per project/job, track individual expenses...repairs, fuel, etc. So I can track how the variable (not fixed costs) are doing compared to what we expected.

I dunno if our repair costs are much higher than anticipated I'll be less likely to pull the trigger on new equipment purchase or whatever.

I just can't believe people don't have budgets...:confused: